Sawdust deflector for portable saw

ABSTRACT

A deflector mountable on the saw blade guard of a portable rotary saw for deflecting sawdust, splinters and other cuttings, comprising a transparent semi-circular channel member adapted to be attached to the saw guard of the saw and effective to deflect the cuttings downwardly without interfering with the operator&#39;&#39;s view of the saw blade and workpiece at the cutting point.

United States Patent Batistelli 1 May 16, 1972 SAWDUST DEFLECTOR FORReferences Cited PORTABLE SAW UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] 1nventor:-Nello Batistelll, 9929 South Downey & 1,830,579 1 H1931 Wappat ..143/159H Sanford Bridge Rd., Downey, Calif. 90240 2,876,810 3/1959 Peterson eta1. ..143/159 H [22] Filed: 1970 Primary Examiner-Dona1d R. Schran [2]]App]. NO,: 87,412 Attorney-Fred N. Schwend 52] U S Cl 143/159]! 143 57[57] ABS CT I 1 A,l44 252, 143/4 59 J A deflector mountable on the sawblade guard of a portable 51 1 Int. Cl. 327g 19 saw deflecting sawdustSplint and cuttings [58] Field of Search R 1 A comprising a transparentsemi-circular channel member 1 43 43 B C 43 i 43 f adapted to beattached to the saw guard of the saw and effec- 144/251 tive to deflectthe cuttings downwardly without interfering with the operators view ofthe saw blade and workpiece at the cutting point.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures r l m I 2 4 I ,I 3

6 k 1%:(ITE T I I 3/ 23 52 Q Q. 1 Q 22 k5 32 /9 L BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to portablerotary saws and has particular reference to means for deflectingsawdust, etc. away from the operator.

2. Description of the Prior Art I-Ieretofore, saws of the above typehave generally been provided with saw blade guards whose principalpurpose is to prevent damage to the rotating sawblade and injury to theoperator, although they also serve to deflect a large portion of thesawdust, splinters and other cuttings from striking the operator. Suchblade guards generally comprise an upper channel-shaped guard which isfixed to the saw housing and extends rather closely around the upperpartof the saw blade, and a lower channel-shaped guard which is pivotalabout the axis of the saw blade and also extends rather closely aroundthe lower part of the saw blade.

Such guards work quite satisfactory in guarding against damage to thesaw blade and injury to the operator. However, since their main purposeis to insure safety in this respect, their side flanges must be locatedrelatively close to the sides of the saw blade so that pieces or stripscut by the saw will not tend to be jammed between the saw blade and theguard or be thrown outwardly by the blade. Also, the blade guards mustnot interfere with the operators view of the workpiece at the cuttingpoint. Therefore, the outside flanges of the blade guards must be cutback sufficiently to permit the cutting point to be viewed at all timesby the operator regardless of the angle at which the saw is cuttingrelative to the workpiece.

Because of the above-noted restrictions on the, size and shape of thesaw blade guards, they are not entirely effective in deflecting sawdust,splinters, etc. away from the operator. That is, as the cutting teeth ofthe saw blade engage the workpiece, and particularly, as they emergefrom the upper surface of the workpiece, they may throw the sawdust,etc. outward at an angle such that it misses the blade guards andstrikes the operator. This may be aggrevated by wind or air currentsdeveloped by the rotating saw blade. Obviously, the sawdust, etc.creates an eye hazard, particularly if the operator must closely andintently watch the cutting point to insure that the cut is properlymade. Although, as suggested by several saw manufacturers, the operatorshould wear safety glasses to prevent the cuttings from striking hiseyes, such operators are prone to consider safety glasses a nuisance andnot wear them. Further, when worn, such safety glasses tend to becomeclouded with bits of sawdust, which-adhere to the glasses and thus theglasses become a hazard in themselves.

Although attempts have been made to use transparent windows ortransparent side flanges in saw blade guards which more completely coverthe saw blade, these have not proven satisfactory because here also, theflying sawdust tends to cloud the transparent portions and thus obscurethe cutting point of the saw blade from the operator. Also, there mustbe sufficient clearance between the saw blade guard and the workpiece toenable the saw to be set at an angle to cut angle or bevel cuts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A principal object of the present invention isto provide a deflector for portable rotary saws which will deflectsawdust and other cuttings from the operator while permitting him todirectly view the cutting point of the saw blade.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive reflectorfor saw cuttings which may be quickly and readily mounted on a portablerotary saw.

According to the invention, the deflector comprises a transparentsemi-circular channel member having an inner side flange adapted to fitagainst the side flange of the saw guard of a portable rotary saw, aforwardly extending flange, and an outer side flange shaped to catch anysawdust, splinters or other cuttings, which I will hereafter termsawdust, thrown outwardly, by the saw blade and yet permit an unhinderedview of the cutting point by the operator. That is, although he maygenerally view the saw blade and workpiece through the transparent sidesof the deflector, the operator may directly view the cutting point andthus not be hindered by the deflector in the event its surfaces becomescratched, dirty or clouded by bits of sawdust adhering to its surfaces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a portableelectrically driven rotary saw having attached thereto a preferred formof sawdust deflector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view, partly in section, taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the deflector per se.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the deflector, partly broken away.

DESCRIPTIONOF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, aportable, electrically driven, rotary saw of conventional constructionis generally indicated at 11 and comprises a housing 12 containing amotor, gearing and bearings (not shown) for rotatably supporting anddriving a toothed saw blade 13. The housing terminates at its rear endin a handle 14 for carrying and guiding the saw. The housing also has aflange l5 integral therewith, to the side of which an upper saw bladeguard 16 is attached. The latter is semi-circular and channel-shaped toextend around the upper part of the saw blade.

A guide base 17 for guiding the saw over the workpiece to be cut ispivotally mounted at 18 and 19 for tilting adjustment about a fore andaft axis on brackets 21 and 22, respectively. This axis extends adjacentthe plane of the saw blade. The base 17 has a portion 20 cut out topermit the blade 13 to ex tend therethrough.

Bracket 21 is pivotally mounted at 23 on the upper guard 16 foradjustment about a laterally extending axis. Bracket 22 has an arcuateslot 24 therein slidable over a threaded stud 25 ex tending from thehousing 12 and is adapted to be secured I thereto in different adjustedpositions by clamp nut 26 whereby to locate the base 17 in differenttilted positions about the pivot 23. Suitable means, not shown, isprovided to lock the base 17 in any of different tilted positions aboutthe pivots I8 and 19.

A lower saw guard 27 is pivotally supported by the housing 12 in amanner not shown for movement about the axis of the blade 13. Guard 27is substantially semi-circular and channelshaped to extend around thelower part of the blade 13. A spring, not shown, normally holds theguard 27 in its illustrated closed or forward position. However, when aworkpiece engages the guard 27 during a cutting operation, the guard isswung counterclockwise until its forward end is raised above the planeof the workpiece, permitting the latter to pass thereunder.

It will be noted that the saw can be adjusted about the axis of thepivots 18 and 20 to make bevel cuts and, for this purpose as well as toenable the operator to view the cutting point, i.e. point C, the loweredge 30 of the flange 28 of the guard 27 terminates a substantialdistance above the base 17.

According to the present invention, a transparent, semi-circulardeflector 31 is provided which is channel-shaped in cross section. Theinner flange 29 of the deflector is adapted to engage the outer side ofthe flange 28 of the upper saw guard 16 and is attached thereto by threescrews 32 which extend through slots 33 in the flange 29 and fixedlyclamp both the deflector 31 and saw guard 16 in place on the housing 12.

The outer flange 34 of the deflector is spaced laterally from the innerflange 29 by an arcuate wall 41 and terminates at 35 in spaced relationto both the cutting point C and the bottom edge 30 of the guard 16 andthen curves upwardly at 36 to permit unimpaired visibility of suchcutting point by the operator from a position rearwardly and upwardly ofthe saw. The rear portion of the flange 34 curves downwardly toadequately shield the operator from any rearwardly flying bits ofsawdust.

A forwardly extending horizontal flange 36 is formed integral with theforward part of the deflector to intercept any sawdust which might flyupwardly from the cutting point and forwardly of the guard 16. Suchsawdust could otherwise be blown rearwardly by wind into the operatorsface. It will be noted in FIG. 6 that the flange 36 also extendslaterally to catch or deflect sawdust thrown out sideways by the sawblade.

An arcuate slot 37 is formed in the flange 34 to permit a handle 38(FIG. 3) fixed as by screws 39 to the lower saw guard 27 to projecttherethrough and be operated manually so as to open or close the lowerguard at will. An enlarged slot 42 is formed at the forward end of theslot 37 to facilitate assembly of the deflector over the handle.

It will be noted that even though the bottom edge 35 of the deflector islocated above the bottom edge 30 of the saw guard 16 to insure anunimpaired view of the cutting point by the operator in different tiltedor adjusted positions of the saw relative to the workpiece, any sawdustthrown outwardly along, for example, a line 40 (FIG. 4) will be caughtby the flange 34 or the curved wall 41 of the deflector and will dropharmlessly down away from the operators face.

The slots 33 enable the deflector to be attached to different sawshaving the same nominal blade diameter capacity and in which the holesfor the screws 32 are located in different positions around the sawguard.

I claim:

1. A sawdust deflector for attachment to the side of a saw blade guardof a portable rotary saw comprising a transparent arcuate channel memberhaving an arcuate wall,

a first side flange at one end of said wall adapted to be attached toone side of said saw blade guard, and

a second side flange at the opposite end of said wall;

said second side flange terminating above the cutting point of saidblade, and

a horizontal sawdust deflecting flange extending forwardly of saidarcuate wall.

2. A sawdust deflector according to claim 1 wherein the bottom edge ofsaid second side flange curves upwardly and rearwardly whereby to enablean operator to view said cutting points below said second side flangeand from a point rearwardly and upwardly from said cutting point.

3. A sawdust deflector according to claim 2 wherein said saw has asecond saw blade guard pivotal about the axis of said saw blade and ahandle on said second guard,

said second side flange having an arcuate slot therein to receive saidhandle and to permit movement of said handle to pivot said second guard.

1. A sawdust deflector for attachment to the side of a saw blade guardof a portable rotary saw comprising a transparent arcuate channel memberhaving an arcuate wall, a first side flange at one end of said walladapted to be attached to one side of said saw blade guard, and a secondside flange at the opposite end of said wall; said second side flangeterminating above the cutting point of said blade, and a horizontalsawdust deflecting flange extending forwardly of said arcuate wall.
 2. Asawdust deflector according to claim 1 wherein the bottom edge of saidsecond side flange curves upwardly and rearwardly whereby to enable anoperator to view said cutting points below said second side flange andfrom a point rearwardly and upwardly from said cutting point.
 3. Asawdust deflector according to claim 2 wherein said saw has a second sawblade guard pivotal about the axis of said saw blade and a handle onsaid second guard, said second side flange having an arcuate slottherein to receive said handle and to permit movement of said handle topivot said second guard.